Covered hopper car end construction

ABSTRACT

IN A CENTER SILL-LESS RAILROAD HOPPER CAR, A PAIR OF OPPOSED END STRUCTURES AND A CENTRAL HOPPER PORTION HAVING OPPOSED SLOPE SHEETS, EACH END PORTION COMPRISING A STUB CENTER SILL ON WHICH IS MOUNTED A FLAT HORIZONTAL SHEAR PLATE ATTACHED TO LATERAL VERTICAL SIDE SKIRT MEANS AND A BOLSTER WEB BEAM MOUNTED ON THE SHEAR PLATE AND CONNECTING WITH THE SIDE SKIRT MEANS FOR BEAMING THE IMPACT LOADS ON THE CENTER SILL INTO THE SIDE GIRDERS OF THE CAR, THE BOLSTER WEB BEAM BEING ATTACHED WITH THE RESPECTIVE SLOPE SHEET OF THE CENTER PORTION BY GUSSET MEANS MOUNTED ON THE RESPECTIVE STUB SILL OR AN END BEAM BEING MOUNTED ON THE OUTER END OF THE SHEAR PLATE BEAM AND CONNECTING WITH THE SIDES OF THE CAR.

Sept. 20, 1971 K. N. JOHNSON 3,605,634

COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 30, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR K. N. JOHNSON COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION sept. 2o, 1971 m m. e@

e e m Il S om 1 l I W m m. M 1mm w d Filed Dec. 30, 1968 n Y) n n /NVEN TOR KENT N. JOHNSON Sept. 20, 1971 K. N. JoHNsoN 3,605,634

COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION` Filed DBC. 30. 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR KENT N. JOHNSON Sept. 20, 1971 K. N. JOHNSON 3,605,634

COVERED HOPPER GAR END COIS'IRUGIION'v Filed Dec. 30. 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

INVENTOR United States Patent 3,605,634 COVERED HOPPER CAR END CONSTRUCTION Kent N. Johnson, South Holland, Ill., assignor to Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, Ill. Filed Dec. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 787,942 Int. Cl. B61d 5/00, 7/00, 17/06 U.S. Cl. 10S-248 13 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE In a center sill-less railroad hopper car, a pair of opposed end structures and a central hopper portion having opposed slope sheets, each end portion comprising a stub center sill on which is mounted a at horizontal shear plate attached to lateral vertical side skirt means and a bolster web beam mounted on the shear plate and connecting `with the side skirt means for beaming the impact loads on the center sill into the side girders of the car, the bolster web beam being attached with the respective slope sheet of the center portion by gusset means mounted on the respective stub sill or an end beam being mounted on the outer end of the shear plate beam and connecting with the sides of the car.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide for a center sill-less railroad car construction wherein each end ybeaming structure of the car may be attached to the central portion of the car in which each end construction comprises a stub center sill upon which is mounted a shear plate beam and a bolster web beam for beaming the loads into Athe side of the car, the shear plate beam having attached to each of its sides side skirt means attached to the side sills of the car for transferring impact loads on the stub sill into the side girders of the car.

The beaming of the loads into the sides of the car is also transferred Ifrom the iloating or stub center sill by an upright end beam attached on the outer end of the shear plate and then each skirt means or -by gusset reinforcing means connecting the bolster web with a respective slope sheet, the gusset means being mounted on the inner portion of the stub sill.

The invention utilizes the stub sill shear plate in spaced beam concept bolster web beam and end beam or slope sheet for beaming the stresses into the side Wall structures introducing side wall skirts between the shear plate and sills. The novel combination of the invention involves a floating stub sill, tlat 'shear plates and skirts used in a center sill-less car with spaced stress transferring beams.

The one arrangement of the invention is a straight twobeam arrangement of bolster web beam and end beam.

Another novel arrangement of the invention provides for a stub sill having a portion extending rearwardly of the bolster web beam with the shear plate beam stopping at the bolster web beam and utilizing gussets connecting a portion of the stub sill rearward of the bolster web beam with the shope sheet and the bolster web beam. These connecting gussets cause the slope sheet to function as a beam to transfer stresses into the side walls as one of the spaced beam elements and the bolster web beam beams the stresses into the side Walls as a second beam element. The gussets are located only at the center sill with the area from the respective gussets to the side walls being open so that the slope sheet and bolster web beam are left to beam the stresses to the side Walls.

It is a further object of this invention to provide side skirts for a high side car allowing the shear plate beam to remain at or horizontal and results in the use of less side girder on each side of the car, the side girder including side sheeting and posts. The height of the side sill is determined by the inner section of the sides of the side slope sheets of the hopper area with the side sills by this novel arrangement. The skirt means provides local structural reinforcement for the high side sill structure until such time that the portion of the side girder is aiding the side sill in carrying the buif loads into the side girder. The beam and stub sill of the end construction all form one unit which may be bolted or welded as a subassembly to the central portion of the car. Such an end construction operates as if the side sill were at the shear plate beam elevation. This construction, therefore, is uniquely applicable to aluminum cars but, of course, can also be used with steel cars. Stainless steel or aluminum may be used for that portion of the car containing the lading and, therefore, the bolster and end beam or steel gusset reinforced aluminum slope sheet beam combination. Stainless steel or aluminum is preferable for containing the lading as it is corrosive resistant whereas the end construction may be made of a mild or conventional steel where there is no corrosive problem, that is, the outside end construction of the bolster web, shear plate and gusset or end beam construction. The side sill may also then be of a diiferent material, such as aluminum. Where the end construction is attached to an aluminum car body, ybolting is the fastening means, whereas if mild or conventional steel construction is used for the end por-r tions of the car, the end portions may be welded to a stainless steel lading bearing center portion of the car.

These and other objects, purposes and advantages of the inventlon will become apparent from reference to the following description, attached drawings, and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a perspective view of the end portion of a railroad hopper car of the center sill-less type;

FIG. la is a side elevational view of a complete hopper car of the aforesaid type;

FIG. 2 is a partial side elevational view of the end of the hopper car;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the hopper car; FIG. 4 is another modification of a hopper car showlng a perspective view of the end of the car;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the end of the car as shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the hopper car as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

DESCRIPTION OF TH-E PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to the drawings, there is shown a railroad hopper car of the general type shown in co-pending patent application of John H. Spence and William Van der Sluys, Ser. No. 739,319 tiled June 24, 1968, now Pat. No. 3,557,713, issued Jan. 26, 1971 which copending application is incorporated herein by reference. The following embodiments, however, are directed to a high side sill car provided with side skirt means which receive stresses from a at horizontal shear plate beam as well as two transverse beams for transmitting the loads into the side girders of the center sill-less car as will bc understood by reading the following description.

With reference now to FIGS. 1, la, 3 and 4, the center sill-less railroad hopper car 2 has end portions 3, and central portions 3a, a top or roof 4, and sides 5, and the center hopper portion being defined by hoppers 6. The roof 4 is provided with roof sheeting 7 and each side 5 is provided with side sheeting 8 which spans vertically between upper side plate 9 and lower side sill 10 on each side 5 of the car 2. The side plate 9, side sill 10, the sheeting 8 and side posts 11 which extend between and are connected to each side sill 10 and side plate 9 on one side of the car constitute a side girder. One side post 11 is designated as a side post 12 which is aligned with the bolster web beam 13 at each end of the car. Each bolster web beam 13 spans and is connected to each longitudinally extending side sill and is fixedly mounted (by welding w) on the horizontal end shear plate 14 mounted over a respective stub center sill 15 by welding w. In the drawings the small letter w indicates the parts are welded together.

Each bolster web beam 13 at each end of the car extends transversely and upwardly to the downwardly inwardly sloping transversely extending hopper slope sheet 17. The respective slope sheet 17 is attached to its respective bolster web beam by an angle clip connection or angle plate 16 which extends the width of the car. These angle clips 16 are used whenever an aluminum car part is attached to a steel car part because welding of steel to aluminum is not done in this construction but, rather, the aluminum part is bolted by means of bolts 16a to the steel car part. The angle plate 16 for tying the slope sheet 17 to the bolster web beam 13 is of aluminum which is welded to the slope sheet but bolted to the bolster web beam. However, a pair of opposed end angle plate connections 16 of steel are welded to the steel bolster web beam 13 but bolted to the aluminum side sheeting 8 of the car. The side posts 11, the side sills and the side plates 9 are of aluminum, as is the roof sheeting 7 and the upper end sheet 7a. Bolts 16a attach the steel corner posts 19 which, in turn, are welded to the steel shear plate beam 14 and the steel end beam 20. The end beam 20 is attached to the side sheeting 8 on each side of the car by angle plate 16 through bolts 16a. The steel shear plate beam is welded as, for instance, indicated by welding w to the steel stub center sill at each end of the car. Each slope sheet 17 at each end of the car has its outer end portions merging with the upper, outer end sheeting 7a attached to the roof sheeting 7. The corner posts 19 are L-shaped structural members which are also attached by bolt means 16a to the respective side sheeting 8 and side plate 9, the corner posts being structural members. The shear plate beam 14 extends from its connection with the bolster web beam 13 outwardly to the end of the car and laterally toward and underneath the aluminum side sills 10 where it is attached by welding w to the steel skirt means 21 to be described in detail below. The lower end beam comprises a generally upright web portion 20a and a horizontally inwardly and outwardly turned flange portion 20h forming a T with the web 20a. Steel reaction gussets 15a are attached to each stub center sill 15 and to the underside of the shear plate by welding w. Located underneath the side post and bolster web beam and connected to the stub center sill at each end of the car is the conventional vehicle or body bolster 15e having the usual bolster side bearing structure 15b.

The side post 12 extends down along the side sheeting 8 to which it is attached and is connected to the side sill 10 on a respective side.

The shear plate beam 14 extends outwardly of and is spaced outwardly and away from the slope sheet 17 to dene an open box arrangement with the bolster web beam l13 and the slope sheet 17. Therefore, there is no torque box arrangement of the shear plate bolster web and slope sheet, and loads, as in buff, are transmitted to the side skirt structures 21, 21 into the sides of the car from the center ,sill by means of the two-beam construction of the end beam 20 and the bolster web beam and the connection of each of these beams 2t)` and 13 to the shear plate beam. A portion of the shear plate beam 14 connected to the end beam 20 acts as a ange for the beam 20 and a portion of the end beam 20 that is adjacent to and connected to the shear plate beam 14 acts as a ange for the shear plate beam 14. A portion of the shear plate beam adjacent to and connected to the bolster web beam 13 acts as a flange for the shear plate beam 14 and a portion of the shear plate beam 1.4 adjacent to and Connected to the bolster web beam 13 acts as a flange for the bolster web beam 13. Thus, there is a sharing of anges between the end beam 20- and the shear plate beam 14 and between the shear plate beam 14 and the bolster web beam 13. The bending stresses of the shear plate beam, bolster web beam and the lower end beam act as a unit under the longitudinal impact loads to produce a more eflicient structure when interconnected than it would be if the above means were not interconnected as they share common anges. The path of the impact forces in shear and in bending pass from the center sill into the shear plate beam and to the lower end beam and bolster web beams to the side skirt structures 21, 21 into the sides of the car. Because of the sharing of flanges of these three beams, bending forces subtract from one another at the connection between the end beam and the shear plate beam and between the shear plate beam and the bolster web beam, improved structural result that could not be realized if these beams were separated.

The skirt means or side skirt structurw 21, 21 each depend from the respective side sill 10 and are welded to the shear plate beam 14 and the corner post 19. Eachl skirt means comprises a pair of vertically spaced laterally extending L-shaped steel angle plate elements 25 at the top and 26 at the bottom. The top angle plate skirt element 25 extends from the end of the car on its respective side to approximately the outermost hopper unit 6 and is bolted by bolts 16a to the respective side sill 10, as aforesaid, whereas the lower angle skirt element 26 extends slightly inwardly of the bolster lweb beam 13 and is connected by welding on its inner side thereof to skirt gusset plate `27 which extends up to the upper skirt element 25 and is welded thereto on the inside face of the vertical flange of element 25 by welding (the vertical ange of element 26 also being attached to the gusset 27). The horizontal flange of the L-shaped skirt element 26 has its underside welded to the shear plate beam 14 which, in turn, is welded to the stub sill 15. The shear plate 14 extends inwardly from the end of the car at the corner post 19 to just inwardly of the bolster web beam 13. -Inner steel side post stub 28 in vertical alignment with the side post 12 is sandwiched between and Welded to the upper plate 25 and the lower plate 26. An outer steel bolster side post stub 29 is sandwiched between and welded to the upper and lower skirt elements 25 and 26 at the corner post 19 on each side of the car. The shear plate beam 14 is a horizontal plate which, being welded to the underside of the skirt means 21 on each side of the car, is spaced below the respective side sill 10 and each skirt means 21 is a vertical structure reinforcing structural unit extending up from the shear plate means to the side sill up from which extends the side girder on each side of the car. Therefore, loads transmitted into the stub center sill 15 are beamed to the shear plate and into the skirt means 21, 21 and into the side or side girders of the car.

By such an arrangement as described above, the end construction of bolster web beam, end beam and shear plate may be bolted to an aluminum central hopper portion where the end construction is steel or the end construction lwhich may be of steel may be welded to a central portion which is of steel. The -at shear plate beam construction provides for a high side sill with less side girder construction resulting in a structural advantage and a weight saving in order to carry greater payloads. The skirt means reinforces the end construction where there is a higher side sill providing for beaming of loads into the side girders that come from the shear plate beams. The selection of materials need not be limited to steel or aluminum and welding of parts may be substituted where bolting of parts together is not required.

A second modication is shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 and in all respects is like the embodiment shown in FIGS. l, la, 2 and 3 except that the end beam has been omitted and the slope sheet is provided with gusset means 30 connecting with the bolster beam 13 whereby in the absence of the end beam the bolster web beam 13 in'conjunction with the slope sheet 17 acts as means for beaming the loads into the side of the car. Therefore, where there is like structure in the second embodiment with reference to' the first embodiment, like reference characters are used. The gusset means 30 comprise triangular-shaped inner gusset steel elements 31, 31 which are bolted by bolts 16a to the underside ofl the slope sheet 17 from the intersection of the slope sheet with the bolster web beam 13 downwardly to where the hopper portion 6 begins as indicated by 32 on `FIG. 5. Each gusset plate]31 is attached to the slope sheet by an aluminum angle plate 16 by welding, which lplate 16 is bolted by bolt la'gto the inner triangulated gusset 31, the vertical outward edge of the steel gusset means 31 being welded to the inner face of the steel bolster web 13, and the lower horizontal edge of each inner gusset plate 31 being welded to the respective side of the stub center sill as indicated by numeral 33 in FIG. 6. In this second embodiment the stub sill 15 extends further inward toward the hpper 6 and adjacent thereto Lin order to support and carry each inner gusset steel element 31. The elements 25, 26 and 27 of the skirt structure 21 in the second modification also extend adjacent to the hopper 6 whereby the skirt structure 21 and the.l` gusset elements 31 aid in more directly dumping or beaming the loads from the shear plate beam into each side girder of the car. Outer gusset plates 35, 35 forming outer gusset means are `mounted on the shear plate beam andare triangular in shape. These gusset members 35, 35 are of steel construction, being welded to the upper surface of the horizontal shear plate and also being bolted to the aluminumlslope sheet by bolt 16a to where the slope sheet 17 intersects with the bolster web beam 13 and then each external gusset element 35 extends downwardly and has its inner vertical edge welded to the steel bolster web beam13 along the face thereof till the intersection with the shear plate beam 14. The outer gusset elements consist of triangulated web portion 35al and outwardly to side turned flange 35b for structural reinforcement. Thus, the second embodiment discloses a stub sill having a portion extending rearwardly of the bolster web beam 13 with the shear plate beam 14 stopping at the bolster web beam'13 and utilizing internal gusset means 31 connecting theportion of the stub sill 15 lrearward of the bolster web beam 13 with the slope sheet 17 which also acts Ias a beam now in this embodiment, and the bolster web beam. The outer gusset means 35 provide additional reinforcement structure. The connecting gussets 31 cause the slope sheet to -function as a beam to transfer the stresses into the side or side girders or walls as one of the `spaced beams or beam elements and the bolster web beam beams the stresses into 'the side walls or girders as the second beam element. The gusset arrangement is not a torque box design. The gussets 31 are located at the stub center sill 15 with the area from the respective gussets 31 to the side walls or side structures being open so that the slope sheet 17 and the bolster web beam 13 are left to beam the stresses to the side walls or structures.

The foregoing description and drawings are given merely to explain and illustrate the invention, and the invention is not to be limited thereto since those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In la center sill-less railroad hopper car, a pair of opposed end portions and a central portion and side girders including side sills connecting with the end portions, each end portion comprising:

a stub center sill,

a at horizontal shear plate beam mounted on the stub center sill below the side sills,

vertical side skirt means attached to the lateral sides of said shear plate beam and extending upwardly therefrom and connecting with the side sills, and

an upright bolster web beam means mounted over the vehicle bolster and on the shear plate beam intermediate its ends and connecting with the side skirt means for beaming impact loads on the center sill into the side girders of the car.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and

end beam means mounted on the outer end of the shear plate beam means and connecting with said side skirt means for providing additional beaming of the impact loads from the stub center sill into the side skirt means and into the side girders of the car above the iside skirt means.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and

each end portion stub sill and beam means being of steel construction and said central portion of the hopper and said side sills being of aluminum construction whereby the end portions are bolted to the central portion;

4. The inventionaccording to claim 1, and

said end portionstub sill and beam means being of steel, and said central portion and said side sills being of stainless steel whereby the end portion is welded to thefcentral portion.

5. The inventionk according to claim 1, and

said skirt means comprising a skirt structure on each side of the car', each skirt structure comprising:

a pair of longitudinal elements spaced vertically of one another and connected with a horizontally extending intermediate element.

6. The invention according to claim 5, and

side post stubs mounted on said skirt means for reinforcing same at the bolster and at the end of the car.

7. The invention according to claim 1, and

said central portion including hopper means having opposed slope sheets connecting with the side girders, and

said bolster web beam means being attached with the respective slope sheet of the central portion.

8. The inventionaccording to claim 7, and

the stub center `sill being spaced outwardly and away -from the slope sheet to provide for an open box arrangement between the bolster web beam means, the slope sheet, and the shear plate beam which is spaced outwardly and away from the slope sheet.

9. The invention according to claim 7, and

internal gusset means mounted on the inner portion of said stub center sill between the bolster web beam means and the slope sheet and reinforcing the slope sheet which acts as an ladditional beam for beaming impact loads from the center sill into the side skirt means and then into the said girders thereabove.

10. The invention according to claim 9, and

said internal gusset means comprising a pair of longitudinally extending laterally spaced apart generally triangulated gusset plates attached to the side of the stub center'V sill underneath the slope sheet and being attached to the slope sheet thereabove and to the inside of the bolster web beam means.

11. The invention according to claim 9, and

said internal gusset means being located only at the stub center sill with the area from the respective gussets to the side girders being open so that the slope sheet and the bolster web beam means transmit the stresses to the side girders.

12. The invention according to claim 9, and

exterior gusset means being mounted on the shear plate beam and over the stub center sill and connecting with the bolster web beam means land extending outwardly of the bolster web beam means for structurally reinforcing said end portion.

7 13. The invention according to claim 12, and said outer gusset means comprising a pair of parallel longitudinally extending laterally spaced gusset elements mounted over said stub center sill on said at horizontal shear plate beam.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 700,767 5 1902 Hart :10S-250 703 ,659 7/ 1902 Keithley 10S-249 727,621 I5/ 1903 Hansen 10S-248 814,273 3/ 1906 Christianson 105-248 866,674 9/'1907 Olden 10S-247 1,124,980 1/ 1915 Weaver 10S-247 1,170,127 2/1916 Weaver 105-250 8 Cartzdafner 105--248 Kassler et a1. 105-253 Glasser et al. 10S-406 Rollins 3112-52 Charles et al. 105-248 Szala 10S-248 Halcomb 10S-406)( Kadel et al. 10S-226x 1U ARTHULR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner H. BELTRAN, Assistant Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 

